Pogmore, 51, of Guilthwaite Crescent, Whiston, Rotherham, who was the only person in the aircraft when all four of the offending videos were filmed, had admitted four counts of misconduct in a public office.

But the other men told the jury they did not know what Pogmore was doing as he filmed the sequences using the chopper's high-powered camera.

Former police pilot Malcolm Reeves

And the jury the jury of six men and six women at Sheffield Crown Court agreed, clearing them of misconduct in a public office charges.

The jury had been shown footage shot from the aircraft, including an 11-minute sequence clearly featuring a couple having sex on their patio in a range of positions.

At one point in the footage, the woman waves at the helicopter.

Pogmore, who was described by prosecutors as "a swinging and sex-obsessed air observer", knew the couple through the wife-swapping scene and had even previously had sex with the woman.

Lee Walls, one of the crew of the police helicopter

Matthew Lucas

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